1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an electrical connector, and particularly to an electrical card connector which is indirectly electrically connected with a printed circuit board.
2. Description of the Related Art
Electrical card connectors are mounted on printed circuit boards to electrically connect electronic cards received therein with the printed circuit boards.
Means by which the electrical card connectors are electrically connected with the printed circuit boards are divided into two categories, i.e., directly connecting and indirectly connecting. Directly connecting relates to that electrical terminals of the electrical card connector are directly engaged with contacting pads on the printed circuit board while indirectly connecting means that electrical terminals of the electrical card connector are electrically engaged with electrical terminals of a transitional electrical connector which is in turn electrically connected with the printed circuit board.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,636,999 discloses an electrical card connector which is indirectly connected with a printed circuit board and comprises a transitional element accommodating transitional portions of electrical terminals of the electrical card connector in inner faces of opposite side walls thereof. A transitional electrical connector mounted on the printed circuit board is partially received in the transitional element of the electrical card connector thereby electrical terminals protruding from outer faces of opposite side walls of the transitional electrical connector are then electrically engaged with the transitional portions of the electrical terminals of the electrical card connector. The side walls of the transitional element of the electrical card connector will be plastic deformed after long-term insertion and/or ejection of the transitional electrical connector. Furthermore, pitches between every two adjacent electrical terminals of the electrical card connector is relatively small due to the high density thereof, therefore, the electrical terminals will be subject to cross talk of one another when the signal transmission speed between the two connectors increases to comply with the present developing trend toward faster signal transmission in the electronic field.
The plastic deformation of the transitional element of the electrical card connector and the cross talk between the electrical terminals of the electrical card connector deteriorate the signal transmission quality between the electrical card connector and the transitional electrical connector.
Therefore, an improved electrical card connector is desired to overcome the disadvantages of the prior art.
A first object of the present invention is to provide an electrical card connector which is effectively shielded from the cross talk between electrical terminals thereof; and
A second object of the present invention is to provide an electrical card connector comprising a transitional element, which is mechanically stiffened to eliminate the plastic deformation thereof.
An electrical card connector in accordance with the present invention comprises an insulative housing, a plurality of electrical terminals retained in the insulative housing, a dielectric transitional element and an elongated metal plate embedded in the dielectric transitional element. The electrical terminals protrude beyond a forward side of the insulative housing to electrically engage with electrical terminals of a complementary electrical connector at an engaging portion thereof. The dielectric transitional element is assembled with the insulative housing and receives in inner faces of two opposite walls thereof a transitional portion of each electrical terminal protruding beyond a rearward side of the insulative housing.
Other objects, advantages and novel features of the invention will become more apparent from the following detailed description of the present embodiment when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.